Seven franchise brands run a lawn care & landscaping. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.
Typical for a lawn care & landscaping: $300k to $1M in sales, and the owner keeps 15% to 25% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.
Work each brand out at
How the two sides are counted
Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 8.5% of sales here. The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.
Your own lawn care & landscaping and each brand, side by side
The independent version
Your own lawn care & landscaping
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$104k to $282k
Annual sales
$550ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$110,000
The owner keeps in a year, after about $47k of marketing
Taking new owners
Lawn Squad
Lawn care and fertilization
Total investment
$79k to $118k
Avg. annual sales
$200k to $208k
Franchise fee
Not listed
Royalty + ad fund
In the details
The fee is not a simple share of sales, so it is not worked out in dollars. The details show it as the brand words it.
Taking new owners
Weed Man
Lawn care and fertilization
Total investment
$81k to $108k
Avg. annual sales
$1.2M to $1.7M
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
5.5% to 6.5% + 1.2% to 3% of sales
$191k to $205k
The owner keeps in a year at $1.4M in sales (what it reports), after $95k to $135k to the brand
$81k to $95k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Canopy Lawn Care
Lawn fertilization and weed control
Total investment
$98k to $185k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
8% + 1% of sales
$66k
The owner keeps in a year at $550k in sales (your sales), after $50k to the brand
$44k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
The Grounds Guys
Lawn and landscaping
Total investment
$108k to $253k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$44k
Royalty + ad fund
5% to 6% of sales
$77k to $83k
The owner keeps in a year at $550k in sales (your sales), after $28k to $33k to the brand
$28k to $33k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
U.S. Lawns
Commercial landscape maintenance
Total investment
$113k to $200k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$49k
Royalty + ad fund
4% to 6% + 2% of sales
$77k to $88k
The owner keeps in a year at $550k in sales (your sales), after $33k to $44k to the brand
$22k to $33k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Spring-Green Lawn Care
Lawn and tree care
Total investment
$118k to $134k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$45k
Royalty + ad fund
8% to 10% + 2% of sales
$55k to $66k
The owner keeps in a year at $550k in sales (your sales), after $55k to $66k to the brand
$44k to $55k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Lawn Doctor
Lawn care and fertilization
Total investment
$136k to $164k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$115k
Royalty + ad fund
10% + 5% of sales
$55k
The owner keeps in a year at $550k in sales (your sales), after $83k to the brand
$55k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 7 lawn care & landscaping brands side by side
Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand
Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.
Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document
Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.
Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.
smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.
Your guidesmbnest
The guide is an automated assistant. Answers come from this business’s model, its sources and your plan; they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a person